Numerical Simulation of Unsteady Cavitation Flow in a Low-Specific-Speed Centrifugal Pump with an Inducer

Cavitation is an undesirable phenomenon in the pumps. In this paper, unsteady cavitation flow in a low-specific-speed centrifugal pump with an inducer is investigated based on the full cavitation model and standard k-E turbulence model using the commercial software PumpLinx. The numerical results of external performance curve and cavitation performance curve of design condition agree well with that of the experiment. The bubbles in the inducer mainly appear on the outer blade leading edge. The regions of larger vapor volume fraction in the inducer and impeller increase with the decreasing of NPSHa. The regions of larger vapor volume fraction in the inducer expand from the outer edge of the blade inlet to the hub on suction surface. Under very low NPSHa, the impeller may be filled with bubbles in the passage and the pump head drops drastically, and there exist distinct back flows near the suction surface of the blade and impeller outlet. Affected by pre-swirl of inducer outlet and the circle flow of impeller blade inlet, the amplitude of pressure fluctuation near the impeller inlet is obviously larger than that at the inlet in the inducer. The dominant frequency of pressure fluctuation for four monitoring points is shaft frequency. Compared with the non-cavitation flows, the maximum amplitudes of pressure pulsation increase for cavitating flow.

Automated summary

In this paper, the unsteady cavitation flow in a low-specific-speed centrifugal pump with an inducer was studied using numerical simulations. It was found that the regions with larger vapor volume fraction in the inducer and impeller increased with decreasing NPSHa. Furthermore, under very low NPSHa, the pump head dropped drastically and distinct back flows were observed near the suction surface of the blade and impeller outlet.